Shelving



INVENTOB ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 18, 1951 UNITED YSTATES PATENT OFFICE;

SHELVING Hazen A. Schofield, San Francisco, Calif, Application October 28, 1948, Serial No. 57,110

(Cl. 21k-134) 2 Claims.

Patent Number 2,457,836, issued January 4, 194:9.Y

It is an important object of the present invention to provide improvements over the joint shown in such patent.

To this end, it is an important purpose of the present invention to provide a shelving joint` which, without diiculty, is adjustable to accom-` modate shelves of various thicknesses.

Another important object is to provide a shelving joint, which when the above-mentioned adjustment is made, will hold the selected shelvesV securely in place.

Another important object is to provide an improved ,ioint construction in which the simple parts thereof can be assembled without dificulty, and can be as easily disassembled, thus to` provide knock-down shelving suitable for many pur- Doses.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, theinvention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit ofthe invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings .Figure 1 is afront elevational view of a shelving joint constructed in accordance with the invention, shelving panels held thereby being shown fragmentarily and in section.

Figure 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Figure 5 is a perspective View of a retaining plate comprising one of the parts of the structure.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 5 designates an upstanding support, which can be a post or similar standard. Although, for the sake of simplicity and due to space requirements, the support 5 has been illustrated as supporting two shelves, I believe it will be apparent from the description to be provided hereinafter that the support can as well accommodate any number of shelves.

The front of the support 5 is formed with a.

right-angled cutaway portion dening a horizontal ledge 6 and a vertical surface 1. In this cutaway portion are supported the shelves 8 and 9, in amanner to be described.

Extending from top to bottom of the vertical surface 'I is the wide, fiat, shallow groove I0, that is formed in the back surface of a wedge housing I8,` and fitting in groove I0 is` the depending tongue l I of a retaining plate, the upper end Aof-the tongue being formed integral with trally the tongue has the large circular opening I4, and at its lower end, the tongue is formed with the elongated slot I5, that opens at the lower end edge of the tongue.

It may now be noted that the first step in setting up the shelves is to position a shelf 9 upon the ledge 6, the rear edge of said shelf abutting .against the vertical surface 'I.` Then, the retaining plate is mounted in position, the lower end edgeof the retaining plate abutting against the upper surface of the shelf 9, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The retaining plate is secured in position by screws I6 and I1, threaded into support 5lthrough the key hole slot I3 and slot I5 respectively.

Obviously, the provision of a key hole slot I3 and open ended slot I5, permits the removal or mounting of the retaining plate from or to the support 5, without moreA than loosening or tightening the screws I 6 and Il, as thecase may be, and additionally, theprovision of` said slots I3 and VI5 permitsvertical adjustment of the retaining plate, as for instance, to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 2.

Mounted against the front surface of the retaining plate is the wedge housing generally designatecl` as I8. This can be formed from wood or similar material, as desired,` and in length is slightly shorter than the tongue I I of the retaining plate." Thefront usurface of the wedge housing I8 is formed witha deep channel I3, that extends the length of the wedge housing, so that the wedge housing in cross section is of U-shape as best seen from Fig. 4.

The rear surface of` the wedge housing -I8 is recessed at 20 and 2| to provide clearance for the screws I6 and I'I.

To complete the formation of the wedge housing, I form centrally thereof an aperture 22, that is adapted to register with the opening I4 in any adjustedposition of the retaining plate.

I mount in the end-to-end channel I9 of the wedge housing the wedge generally designated 23, and this has the central countersunk opening 24 that registers with the openings 22 and I4.

Opening 24 opens into the elongated recess 25, formed in the inner or rear surface of the wedge 23, said recess having the walls 2B diverging at an oblique angle to each other from the opening 24.

The end walls 21 of the wedge 23 deine shoulders abutting against, and supporting, the shelves 8 and 9 respectively.

The full use of the device may now be readily noted. The wedge 23, prior to being brought to the position illustrated in Fig. 2, is initially formed in a manner whereby its end walls orv shoulders 21 will not be in a state of true parallelism. In other words, by insertion of a common lag screw 28 through the-openings 24, 22, and. I4, and threading of said screw tightly into the support 5, the wedge 23 is drawn inwardly or to the right in Fig. 2, whereuponvthe end walls 2 are distorted outwardly, so as to clamp the shelves 8 and 9 between the clamping member I2 and the ledge 6, respectively. Removal of the shelves is readily accomplished simply by loosening of the lag screw 28.

The important characteristic of the present invention is its adaptability to shelves of various thicknesses, without requirement of changing the size or structural characteristics of any of the component parts of the structure; In other words, the support 5, the retaining plate, the

Vwedge housing, and the wedge can all be constructed in standard sizes, and yetaceommodate and hold tightly in position shelves 8 and 9 of any thickness within a prescribed range.

As has been hereinbefore mentioned, the post or support canvbe of any length, so as to support any number of shelves, andthe device is readily adapted for many uses by this characteristie. For example, assume that a plurality of shelves are to be mounted against a wall in superposed spaced relation. Support 5, in this instance, would obviously be cut away at its front to provide a greatly elongated recess, extending probably the length of the entire support, and the support would of course be in itself quite long. The bottom-most shelf would be put in place, and the retaining plate adjusted thereto and secured tightly in position. Then, the shelf next above would be secured in place by means of the wedge housing and wedge, so that these two shelves are tightly secured in position. Obviously, these shelves can be of any thickness.

The shelving is then built up along the support 5, by having another'retaining plate abut at its lower end against the clamp member I2 1 With further reference to the mounting of a plurality of shelves against a wall in superposed spaced relation, it maybe noted that under'- many circumstances, as wherethe ,shelvesV arel tqgbe bgiltup .frepnthafloop itiscnot necessary 4 Y to provide the elongated recess such as that seen in the support 5. In effect the intersection of an ordinary wall with the floor delines a right angled recess, and the shelving can in this instance be built up directly from the oor, with the oor acting as the ledge 6. Knock down shelving is thus provided capable of mounting against any ordinary wall, the arrangement permitting rapid installation of shelves of desired thicknesses and relative arrangements.

What is claimed is:

, l.Knock down shelving comprising a retaining plate formed as a depending tongue rigid at least at one end with an approximately horizontally extended clamping element, there being an opening and a plurality of elongated longitudinal slots formed in the tongue; screws extending through the slots for securing said tongue to a supporting surface; a wedge housing overlying said tongue and having a longitudinal open-ended channel, there being a space between o`ne end of said wedge housing and said clamping element; a shelf member seated in said space; a clamping block proportioned to be expanded longitudinally beyond the ends of said channel and positioned in the channel, 'for' clamping of the shelf member between said block and said clamping element on longitudinal eX- pansion of the block; and a screw extending through said block, wedge housing, and opening of the tongue and into said'supporting surface and proportioned for expanding the block longitudinally, said opening being of substantially greater diameter than the diameter of 4that portion of the last-named screw that vextends through the opening, said slots and opening adapting the tongue for adjustment longitu-` dinally of the block and housing, whereby to accommodate in said space shelf members o dii'- erent thicknesses.

2. Knock down shelving comprising a retaining plate integrally formed with a depending tongue and including a iiat clamping elementV rigid at one end with the tongue, said element extending approximately horizontally from and being at approximate right angles to the tongue,

there being an opening and a plurality of elongated longitudinal slots formed in the tongue;V

screws extending through the slots for securing the tongue to a supporting surface; a wedge housing overlying said tongue, there being a space between one end of the wedgehousing and Y the clamping element, the wedge housing being formed with an end-to-end channel opening at opposite ends of the wedge housing; va shelf f member seated in said space; a clamping block positioned in said channel and formed to the approximate length of the channel, said clamping block being proportioned to flex at its center toward and away from the bottom wallof said channel, the flexible center portion of said block being spaced from said bottom wall of the channel and the end portions of the block being in contact with the bottom wall of the.

channel, for expanding the block longitudinally l beyond the ends of said channel responsive'to drawing of the flexible center portion thereof in the direction of the bottom wall of the channel; and a screw extending through said centerportion of the block, wedge housing, and opening of the tongue and adapted to be threaded into a supporting surface for mounting Yof Vthe retaining plate, shelf member, wedge housing, and clamping block upon said surface, said screw drawing the center portion of the clamping block toward the bottomv wall of said recess .when

5 threaded into said supporting surface, said opening being of substantially greater diameter than the diameter of that portion of the last-named screw that extends through the opening, said slots and opening adapting the tongue for adjustment longitudinally of the block and housing. whereby to accommodate in said space shelf members of different thicknesses.

HAZEN A. SCHOFIELD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 111e of this patent:

Number Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Williams Dec. 4, 1894 Whitcomb Oct. 23, 1906 Baldeck Jan. 10, 1939 Schofield Jan. 4, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Switzerland Aug. 1, 1939 Switzerland Apr. 1, 1935 

